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Bubur sumsum (Javanese rice-flour pudding with palm-sugar syrup)
Silky coconut rice-flour pudding with warm gula jawa syrup
Bubur sumsum, named after bone marrow for its colour and softness, is one of Java's best-loved jajan pasar, sold from carts in the morning and in the late afternoon as a sweet bite. In Javanese custom it is also cooked after a wedding or a big celebration to thank those who helped, as a gentle food for tired bodies. The pudding is pure white, silky and barely salty, and it comes drenched in kinca, a warm syrup of palm sugar and pandan. Serve it warm or at room temperature in small bowls, on a banana leaf if you have one. It is naturally egg-free: rice flour cooked in coconut milk swells and sets it to a soft, spoonable pudding, the way cornflour sets a blancmange. Chef's tip: whisk the rice flour into cold coconut milk before it goes on the heat; adding it to hot liquid is the common mistake that leaves lumps you can't whisk out.
- Total time
- 30 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the pudding
- 3 ½ oz rice flournot glutinous rice flour
- 1 ¾ cups coconut milk
- 1 ¼ cups water
- ¾ tsp salt
- 3 pandan leavesknotted, divided
For the palm-sugar syrup (kinca)
- 5 ½ oz palm sugar (gula jawa)chopped
- ¾ cup water
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Method
0/5 doneStep 1: Put 5 ½ oz palm sugar (gula jawa), ¾ cup water and one knot of 1 pandan leaves in a small pan over a medium heat. Simmer for 8–10 minutes, until the sugar dissolves and the syrup lightly coats a spoon. Strain and keep warm.
10 minStep 2: In a heavy pan, whisk 3 ½ oz rice flour into the cold 1 ¾ cups coconut milk and 1 ¼ cups water with ¾ tsp salt until completely smooth.
Step 3: Add the remaining 2 pandan leaves and set the pan over a medium-low heat. Stir constantly with a whisk or spatula, reaching into the corners.
5 minStep 4: Keep stirring for 8–10 minutes as it thickens, until it is glossy, very thick and pulls away from the base of the pan when you drag the spatula through.
9 minStep 5: Remove the pandan and spoon the pudding into bowls. Pour over the warm syrup and serve warm or at room temperature.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 330 kcal
- Protein
- 3 g
- Carbs
- 54 g
- Fat
- 12 g
- Fibre
- 1 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does bubur sumsum (Javanese rice-flour pudding with palm-sugar syrup) take?
- About 30 minutes in total: 5 minutes to prepare and 25 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Is it vegan?
- Yes. It has no meat, fish, dairy or eggs.
- Is it gluten free?
- Yes, as written. Check the labels on stock, sauces and spice mixes, which sometimes contain gluten.
- What can I use instead of coconut milk?
- Single cream, same amount (not dairy free).
- What can I use instead of palm sugar (gula jawa)?
- Caster sugar, same amount.
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